Strongest Dad in the World
Eighty-five times he's pushed the wheelchair of his disabled son, Rick, in marathons. Eight times in addition to pushing the wheelchair for 26.2 miles he's also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming, and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars -- all in the same day. When technology allowed Rick to type, he said: "Dad, when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anym... posted on Sep 06 2006, 2,755 reads

An Oil Spill and 17 Years of Silence
After seeing a massive oil spill pollute San Francisco Bay in 1971, John Francis gave up all motorized transportation. For 22 years, he walked everywhere he went -- including treks across the entire United States and much of South America -- hoping to inspire others to drop out of the petroleum economy. Soon after he stopped riding in cars, Francis, the son of working-class, African-American pare... posted on Aug 29 2006, 1,976 reads

Single Mom Adopts at 64
When Kit Cole decided to adopt a baby at 64, her children, all in their 30s and 40s, were anything but enthusiastic. "They said, 'You're right at a place where you can enjoy all the fruits of your labor. Why do you want to have an infant in your life? You'll never have any rest; you'll have to be dragging him around.'" Cole, a retired CEO, saw their logic, except that she was trying to help a hom... posted on Aug 28 2006, 2,314 reads

A Mountain Climber's Gratitude
In 1993, Greg Mortenson became very ill when climbing Mt. K2, the world's second tallest mountain, in the Himalayas. As he recovered for seven weeks in the small Pakistani village of Korphe, he was so touched by the kindness he received that he vowed to return to build their first school. True to his word, he founded the Central Asia Institute, which has built 55 schools across rural Pakistan and ... posted on Aug 22 2006, 2,387 reads

A Grieving Mother's Incredible Compassion
As the fourteen year old L'mani Delima apologized for pulling the trigger of a .38-caliber pistol five times and killing 12-year-old Phoenix Garrett, the victim's mother had one request for the judge: "Can I hug him, please?" The mother of the Harlem child, Jacqueline Birkett-Johnson, wanted the young man to know he could change the direction of his life. "I wanted him to know before he left tha... posted on Aug 11 2006, 2,619 reads

41 Letters To Younger Selves
If you could send a letter back through time to your younger self what would that letter say? In this inspiring new publication "What I Know Now" forty-one famous women from diverse fields write letters to the women they once were, filled with the advice and insights they wish they had then. Honest, wise and compassionate these letters reveal rare glimpses of the personal struggles and triumphs of... posted on Aug 08 2006, 4,737 reads

Dollar a Day Walking Pilgrimage
It isn't easy living on a dollar a day, even when you're trekking through poverty-stricken parts of rural India. Just ask Nipun and Guri Mehta, who held themselves to that budget while taking a walking pilgrimage through the country last year. Six months into their marriage, this Berkeley couple left with a one-way ticket to journey India by foot. Eating wherever food was offered, sleeping wherev... posted on Aug 07 2006, 3,187 reads

A Maid Becomes an Unlikely Star
Abandoned by her mother at 4, married off at 12 to an abusive husband, a mother herself at 13 -- there is little in Baby Halder’s traumatic childhood to suggest that she would become a famous author. But "A Life Less Ordinary," this season’s publishing sensation in India, is the result of her nighttime writing sessions, squeezed in after her housework duties were finished, when she poured raw... posted on Aug 03 2006, 2,462 reads

Singing To The Dying
After singing to a friend who laid in a coma with AIDS in 1990, Kate Munger realized that it would be her life's work. A few years passed and in August of 1997 driving back home from Montana, she committed herself to sing for any animals she encountered who have been killed on the road. Based on the inspiration of those two events, Kate Munger started the Threshold Choir -- small, volunteer-run ... posted on Aug 01 2006, 2,471 reads

51-Day Self-Transcendence Race
It's a 51-day event and the world's longest foot race, but instead of going 3,100 miles from New York to Los Angeles, they will circle one city block in Queens -- for two months straight. Athletes wear out more than 12 pairs of shoes, run more than two marathons daily and all but one of this year's runners are foreigners who left their jobs as postal workers, gardeners and factory workers. And t... posted on Jul 29 2006, 3,019 reads